The PAR Framework is an independent, non-profit provider of learner analytics
as a service, and AIR is a behavioral and social science research and evaluation
organization. According to the PAR Framework, the metrics currently used to
compare higher education institutions in the United States are based on
traditional models of education and don't reflect the current reality of
non-traditional students and changing instructional models and business
practices.

Through this partnership, the PAR Framework and AIR plan to develop new
benchmarks for measuring the performance of for-profit and alternative delivery
models of education, such as online learning, and to identify ways to improve
"federal data collections, statutory disclosure and reporting requirements,
especially with regards to transfer students and adult learners," according to
information from PAR.

To achieve this goal, PAR and AIR will use PAR's common data definitions and
data gathering, handling and analysis resources to develop metrics can help
identify reasons why students fail or drop-out of higher education institutions
in the United States.

About the Author

Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at [email protected].